1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer software, and more particularly to a protocol for storing, replicating, and retrieving data over a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various measurement devices may provide different measurement streams (e.g., value-time pairs, data acquisition (DAQ) data). Typically, separate software application programs are required to process different types of measurement data (e.g., different measurement streams). Conventional database configuration typically implies that certain characteristics (e.g., persistence (storage on disk), caching, replication, networking, security) are dependent upon the type of data stored in the database. It is desirable to have robust software application programs that are able to process multiple types of measurement data using a shared code base. Benefits of a shared code base may include a smaller footprint (i.e., code size) and ease of maintenance.
Database replication may be a time consuming process, especially in the case of large amounts of data being replicated. For example, consider a logger application program on a first computer system writing a series of readings (e.g., time-value pairs) from one or more measurement devices to a local database. Current implementations of trender application programs on a second computer system, connected to the first computer system over a network, require that each reading or transaction be processed individually. As the number of transactions increases, the time necessary to complete the database replication increases. Thus, a larger and larger time delay is experienced by a user, as the amount of data or transactions increases.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system and method for a faster protocol for storing, replicating, and retrieving data over a network.